How much will a ZTA badge cost?

cthomas · #1 10-14-2012, 11:03 PM

Hi there ladies! My daughter just pledged ZTA at Cal Poly Pomona. I would like to purchase her badge for Christmas. The family is on a budget and I can't seem to get pricing for a badge. Can anyone help me with a price range?
Thanks ~ new ZTA mom, Carol

KDCat · #2 10-14-2012, 11:08 PM

(Sorry about the lane swerve. It was on the front page.)

It depends on what kind of badge you get. Badges for my sorority can run from under $100 for a plain silver or GF badge to over $500 for diamond badge.

You can see the types available to ZTA here.

https://www.hjgreek.com/index.cfm?ev...ategory_ID=731

Contact ZTA headquarters and explain what you want and ask them how you would order it for your daughter. They are usually happy to help a parent support a daughter's membership.

/lane swerve

WhiteRose1912 · #3 10-14-2012, 11:26 PM

Apologies for the length--I'm taking this info off the badge ordering page. Hopefully all of the images work!

Gold: $108
Sterling silver: $65

Gold: $158
Sterling silver: $103

$528

Gold: $158
Sterling silver: $101

Gold: $158
Sterling silver: $120

$205

Gold: $158
Sterling silver: $103

$200

$453

WhiteRose1912 · #4 10-14-2012, 11:27 PM

Gold: $158
Sterling silver: $103

$318

thetalady · #5 10-15-2012, 12:05 AM

What a sweet thing to do, Carol!

DubaiSis · #6 10-15-2012, 12:34 AM

You might see if you can dig a little information out of your daughter (or maybe her big) about what the girls in her chapter usually buy. Back in my day, we could buy plain, pearl and diamond badges. Plain and pearl were the most common and diamond would have seemed more than a little ostentatious. I'm sure at other schools the diamond would have been much more common (they are definitely prettier than the plain that I got).

etadrisophila · #7 10-15-2012, 07:51 AM

Pardon the Lane Swerve:

Sigh.

I follow "badge trends" but I had no idea that ZTA had so many choices!

Here is our choice (Tri Delta)!

Congratulations to your daughter and to ZTA!

FSUZeta · #8 10-15-2012, 09:45 AM

You can also get badges with real stones, as a special order. At least you could back in my day. One of my roommates got a badge with real emeralds-stunning!- although it took twice as long for her to receive her badge. Even back then, it was beaucoup $$.

Mom, the girls usually all order their badges at one of their new member meetings. The secretary of the chapter places the badge orders. There is a form that each new member fills out. Some chapters, by tradition, do all where the same style of badge, while in other chapters everyone just gets what they want. The only official badge requirement from our headquarters is that each member must order a badge-it may be the least expensive one, or the most expensive one-that is up to the member.

I.O. (our International Office) sometimes receives badges that have been returned when a member passes away, which I.O. will sell. If your daughter indicates that she wishes she could have a fancier badge than the plain badge, you might try phoning I.O to see if they have any returned badges for sale- the number is 317.872.0540. Even though they are in the central time zone, they operate on EST.

There was so much variety when it came time for me to choose, that I couldn't make up my mind, so I just went got a plain one. I figured i could always upgrade. Years later, I bought a turquoise/alternating pearl silver badge from I.O.(which is beautiful, btw) at considerably less than a brand new badge of the same style. Our colors are turquoise and grey, so I especially liked the turquoise/sterling silver combo for a badge. I returned my original badge at the time of purchase-it was the plain gold one that I got when I was initiated. .There will be plenty of members in her chapter that have the plain badge, so if that is what she wants, or all that your budget will allow, don't worry about it.

FYI- A lot of members attach a chapter guard to their badge. It identifies which chapter they were initiated in, and also serves as a 2nd line of defense to keep from losing the badge. It attaches to the badge with a delicate chain, and the chapter letters are pinned to the clothing. It is rare for both the badge and the chapter guard to come loose at the same time.

ZTA1550 · #9 10-15-2012, 12:33 PM

I got the gold / pearl badge when I was initiated. Loved it then and still love it after all these years. And I would definitely recommend the chapter guard. In addition to the security aspect, your daughter can then attach the symbols of the various offices she holds to the chain as "dangles." Congratulations to your daughter -- proud to have her as a sister!

FSUZeta · #10 10-15-2012, 12:55 PM

Good point ZTA1550. Even if she does not hold an office, she may be a big sister and there is a dangle for that too!

PS: Happy Founder's Day! :-)

Cane94G8r97 · #11 10-15-2012, 01:23 PM

I agree about the chapter guard. I don't think that chapter guards are "en vogue" these days, but 20 years later and I am still adding to it.

FSUZeta · #12 10-15-2012, 02:00 PM

I sometimes wonder if the girls just don't know about them. When my daughter was initiated, I noticed that no one in her chapter had a chapter guard, but the general advisor, a member of that chapter who was a collegian around the same time I was in college. When I asked her about it, she said that she guessed that somewhere in the 30 years since she had been a new member, they quit getting them, and as things happen, after enough girls have graduated, no one even knew what they were, or they thought that they were an alum. thing, because they only saw them being worn by alums. My daughter did get a chapter guard, and a couple of other girls did too, and they started a chapter guard trend in that chapter.

DubaiSis · #13 10-15-2012, 02:12 PM

I actually like them better for collegians than for alumnae. If I had a fancier quill, I think I'd be comfortable wearing mine as jewelry, but not with the dangle.

HQWest · #14 10-15-2012, 02:39 PM

I think a lot of girls now do not buy the chapter guard because of the additional expense. Someone that was not an officer or did not win any academic awards might not have any dangles to hang on it, and so they might not see the significance of having the chapter letters. When I advised at a single letter chapter, those girls all wanted a guard.

I had the chapter guard as a collegian and I wore it for years, but it was hard to get on and off and the dangles all kind of hung in a clump so you couldn't tell what they were for. I spent a lot of time explaining to younger girls what they were for and that my chapter letters were from a closed chapter. I have seen girls that had a jeweler put their dangles through the loops of the chain and that looks very nice and is easier to see.

I took the guard off. Instead, I put my badge into a necklace which keeps it safer and also helps keep it from getting caught on things.

GeorgiaGreek · #15 10-15-2012, 04:09 PM

Ermahgerd the turquoise and gold one is beautiful

But the OP said she is on a budget. And with that in mind, I think all of them are beautiful. I would get the one you like best that fits into your budget. My sorority only has one pin option, and I think it is beautiful as it is. I think your daughter will think her pin is too.

As for chapter guards, I have only seen one member of my chapter wear one, and she was the president (and happened to take everything very seriously, so it was not surprising she sought out a guard). I think you could give her one at another time, like if she holds a position on general or exec board, to commemorate the achievement, but I wouldn't consider it necessary to get one now.
ETA: My chapter is single letter too, and the guards are still not popular. I suppose it depends on the personality of the chapter as a whole.